Container filling machine



A. H. STEBBINS 2,530,211

Nov. 14, 1950 CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1947 Fig. 2. we/m Albert H. sleebbilw W ww Nov. 14, 1950 A. H. STEBBINS 2,530,211

. CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 14, 1950 A. H. STEBBINS 2,530,211

CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 8 Albert-H. Si'tfbbll.

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Nov. 14, 1950 A. H. STEBBINS 2,530,211

CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fio'.5.

Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UN I-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER FILLINGV MACHINE Albert-H; Stebbins, Little Rock, Ark.

Application April '18, 1947, Serial No; 742,431

7 Claims. 1

Thepresent invention relates to, a container filhng machine and'more particularly to a machine for filling containers with plastic materials, such as wax, putty. or the like.

An object of. the invention is to provide a machine adapted to trap and discharge apredetermined quantity of'maferial .to fill a particular container.

Another object is to provide a machine adapted to fill a plurality of containers by one discharge operation with a predetermined quantity of material.

Broadly the present invention includes a portable support having a hopper at one end'with a front compartment offset to the front of the hopper outlet, whichcompartment is formed to trap a predetermined quantity of the plastic material of the hopper, a container tray mounted below the compartment, a material discharging piston and a fluid operating system for pressing out each charge of material from the trap chamher into the containers mounted below on the tray.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is aside elevational view of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is an end elevation view;

Figure 4 is a partial section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 5.

Figure 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the hopper end of the machine;

Figure 6 is a partial perspective View of the hopper end of the machine with the hopper removed to better show the shutter and container tray mechanisms;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the discharge plate under the front material discharge chamber in position over a row of containers to be filled.

Referring to the drawings in detail, thereis shown in Figuresl and 2 a portable support HJ' formed from end and side angle iron members I2, l3, l4 and 15. At one end of the support I is mounted a'ho'oper '20; which contains a plastic container filling material, such as wax or the like. This hopper is formed with a floor 2|. see Fig. 4, and front and rear elongated openings 22 and 23 just above the floor 2|.

Through the rear opening and resting on the floor 2| of the hopper'is a Wide flat piston or follower member 25, which is reciprocated over the hopper floor by a fluid drive cylinder 26 containing a piston connected to rod 21" in turn coupled to an end of the piston or pusher member 25. The side edges of the piston 25 fit within a pair of channel members 3!} and 3| secured at one end to the rear Wall of the hopper 20 and mountedwslightly above each side member Mand l-by spacerrblocks 33, seeiFig; 1, to leave a space for movement of fiat lugs 34 and 35 carried by the under sideof the pistonr25 nearitsrtrailing,

end;

The opening 22 at the front of hopper 20 communicates with a. measuring chamber 38, see Fig. 4. The chamber 33 is provided with a bottom plate 39. formed with openings Mladapted to align with the open ends of a plurality of containers il, as shown in Figure '7. These openings 4G are provided with a closure or shutter 44, which is formed from a short section of a rectangular tube or conduit and slides to and from under the plate 39 on a guide block 46 under a plate 41.

The piston.25' serves to slide the shutter. 44 from under the openings 40 inthe plate 39 on its full forward stroke by means of duplicate linkage 5B, 5! and 52. This linkage joins the shutter. and piston and is pivotally connected to each side of the shutter and piston. Specifically link 5i! is provided at one end with anelongated slot 54, in which slidesrtheshank of a headed bolt 55 projecting from the piston carried members 34 and 35, and at the other end the link 50 is connectedtoward the upper end of a pivoted vertical rod 5|.

The vertical rod 5| is pivoted on studs 5'! and 58 mounted in opposite sides of the hopper, while jects beyond the front end bar l2 of the support I ii, and mounted below it and the shutter mechanism is arsupport 60 for'the. container tray BI and containers 4].

Operation The machine is operated lay-turning the fluid control valve 64 connectedfro-m a source of fluid pressure, not shown, bytube B5 and to each end of the driver cylinder 26 in any well known manner, so'as to eifecta forward and reverse drive tothe piston :25.

The "hopper 29 is open at the top and isfull of the plastic material to :be discharged intoithe' container 62 under the predetermined quantity chamber: 38:. Asthe: pistonr25 is driveniforwardi over the floor 2| of the hopper it istguide'd" at its forward endby side guide bars 10; and. H secured within the. hopper 28 by rivetslZ; and the leading, end of the piston forcesza' quantity ofwax or the like into the chamber'3B.

When'the piston 25 reaches theinneriedge-of' the front chamber38, ithas-trapped apredeter-r minediamountof.materiaLin the chamber. 38;

Up to this point of the piston movement the shutter 44 remains closed, but upon continued forward movement of the piston 25 the members 34 and 35 arrive at the forward ends of the slots 54, whereby the shutter is slid from under the openings 40 and the forward end of the piston 25 applies pressure to the body of trapped material in chamber 38. Thus as the piston continues to the end of its stroke it opens the shutter and squeezes or extrudes the material out of the openings 40 into the containers 4|, after which the filled containers may be removed by pulling out the tray 6| from its support 60.

Without further description the objects, advantages and operation of the present invention should be apparent, and while only one embodiment has been fully illustrated and described, other changes and modifications, which will now appear to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. To determine the scope of the invention reference should be had to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A container filling machine comprising a hopper having a floor and a side outlet opening at the level of the floor, a compartment adapted to hold a predetermined quantity of material and positioned to receive the material from said hopper outlet opening, said compartment having a bottom with its top surface flush with said floor and provided with a plurality of aligned discharge openings, means for normally retaining said openings closed, a piston slidable across the bottom of said hopper toward said outlet opening to force material therethrough into said compartment, and a linkage system interconnecting said lastnamed means with said piston, whereby after said compartment is filled with material said piston serves to simultaneously move said means from said openings and discharge the material therethrough into said containers.

2. The filling machine described in claim 1, wherein said linkage is formed with elongated slots in the ends connected to the piston to allow for a preliminary movement of said piston for charging the said compartment prior to moving said means from the openings.

3. A container filling machine comprising a support having a hopper mounted thereon, said hopper having a side wall outlet opening, a compartment covering said outlet and adapted to receive therethrough a predetermined quantity of material from said hopper, a container tray mounted below the compartment, said compartment having a bottom plate with a plurality of discharge openings adapted to register with the open tops of a plurality of containers on the tray, a shutter slidably mounted for movement across the openings in the said bottom plate of said compartment, a power driven material feed piston mounted for reciprocatory movement across the bottom of said hopper into the compartment through said outlet opening, and means cooperatively connected between the piston and said shutter to uncover said openings as the piston is moved through the discharge opening into the compartment.

4. A container filling machine comprising a hopper having a flat bottom and two oppositely positioned side walls, said side walls having openings therethrough with the lower side of each at the level of the top surface of said bottom, a piston extending through one of said openings across the surface of the bottom toward the other opening and adapted to enter said other opening, means providing a material receiving chamber overlying the said other opening and the outer side of the hopper, said material chamber having a bottom plate provided with discharge apertures, means for supporting a plurality of containers beneath the discharge apertures, a cutoif slide mounted for reciprocal movement across the underside of said compartment bottom and adapted when in one position to cover and close said openings, means for reciprocating the piston, and a linkage coupling between the piston and said outoff slide which is actuated by the piston after the piston has moved a predetermined distance toward the said other opening to shift the cut-off slide from beneath said discharge apertures.

5. A container filling machine of the character stated in claim 4, wherein said piston is in the form of a fiat plate completely covering the said bottom of the hopper, the said apertured bottom of the chamber extending lengthwise of the forward edge of said piston plate.

6. A container filling machine comprising a hopper having a wide fiat bottom and two oppositely positioned side walls extending upwardly from the bottom, said side walls having openings therethrough, the bottom of each of said openings being at the level of the surface of the hopper bottom, a piston plate extending through one of said openings and supported for reciprocation over said surface of the hopper bottom toward the other opening, means forming a compartment upon the outer side of the hopper wall through which the said other opening is formed, the said other opening leading into said compartment and said piston being adapted to enter the compartment through said other opening, a floor plate for said compartment having a plurality of apertures therethrough, said apertured plate extending lengthwise of the forward edge of the piston plate, means for supporting a plurality of containers below said apertured floor plate, a sliding cut-off disposed beneath said apertured floor plate for closing the apertures thereof, the sliding cut-off being shiftable to a position in which the floor plate apertures are fully uncovered, means for reciprocating the piston, and a linkage coupling between the piston and the sliding cut-oif by which the sliding cut-off is shifted to aperture uncovering position after the piston has moved to a position in which its advancing edge is approximately at the point of entering the compartrnent.

'7. A container filling machine of the character stated in claim 6, wherein the said sliding cut-off is in the form of a sleeve member, and a guide block supported at one side of said apertured floor and having the sleeve member slidably mounted thereon.

ALBERT H. STEBBINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

